OAKLAND (KPIX 5) — The minimum wage in Oakland is about to become the highest in the Bay Area. Right now it’s $9/hour, but not for long. Thanks to voter-approved Measure FF, it will rise to $12.25/hour on Monday. But as this city’s minimum wage goes up, so go food prices. Most restaurants have said they’ll have to raise prices and cut worker hours. --SNIP-- But while Higginbotham can’t wait for the $12.25 hourly wage, small business owners like Sam Hori at 475 Café worry they may not survive. “It’s scary, because if things go down, we cannot to be...

Hi Mike, The federal minimum wage is $7.25 and hour. A lot of people think it should be raised to $10.10. Seattle now pays $15 an hour, and the The Freedom Socialist Party is demanding a $20 living wage for every working person. What do you think about the minimum wage? How much do you think a Big Mac will cost if McDonald’s had to pay all their employees $20 an hour? Darrell Paul Hi Darrell Back in 1979, I was working as an usher for United Artists at a multiplex in Baltimore. The minimum wage was $2.90, and I...

Today, Walmart announced that by 2016 the minimum wage paid to workers in its stores will be increased to $10. In other words, the company has voluntarily raised wages, not because the government or labor unions forced them to, but because they think it's the best thing for business. "Beginning in April, Walmart U.S. will increase its starting rate to $9 an hour or higher. By February 2016, all current associates will make $10 an hour or higher. Additionally, Walmart is piloting an onboarding and training program that will create clear career paths for associates so they know what is...

WASHINGTON – Cheaper, better robots will replace human workers in the world's factories at a faster pace over the next decade, pushing labor costs down 16 percent, a report Tuesday said. The Boston Consulting Group predicts that investment in industrial robots will grow 10 percent a year in the world's 25-biggest export nations through 2025, up from 2 percent to 3 percent a year now. The investment will pay off in lower costs and increased efficiency.

Jody Hall, owner of Cupcake Royale, was an early supporter of the mayor's plan to raise the minimum wage to $15. Now she is having serious second thoughts.Hazel Roos, owner of Paint Away in Redmond, had planned to open a specialty toy store near her home in Seattle. Those plans are now on hold. Ethan and Angela Stowell own 10 neighborhood restaurants in Seattle. They have decided not to move forward on two new restaurants because of uncertainty over the minimum wage. As the Seattle City Council continues to debate a plan to phase in a $15 minimum wage, and...

SEATTLE -- If you own outdoor recreational gear, there's a good chance you have something made at Cascade Designs. The company manufactures MSR camping stoves, Platypus hydration packs, SeaLine dry bags, and Therma-A-Rest sleeping pads -- hundreds of products made by workers in Seattle. Those workers had a bombshell dropped on them Thursday. The company based in Seattle's SODO district along 1st Avenue South is moving 100 jobs later this year to a new plant it's leasing near Reno, Nevada. That's 20 percent of the work force. Some employees have been offered positions, but others will have to reapply. "We...

resident Barack Obama, in his State of the Union speech, called for a minimum-wage hike and for government-mandated paid family and medical leave. "We are the only advanced country on Earth," said the President, "that doesn't guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers." On the minimum wage, Obama issued this challenge: "And to everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, try it. If not, vote to give millions of the...

An independent San Francisco bookstore says it will be closing its doors by March 31, despite having its best year ever in 2014. And it’s pointing at San Francisco’s newly enacted minimum wage law as the reason.

When San Francisco voters approved a minimum wage increase in the November election, Mayor Ed Lee sent what he called a loud and clear message to the nation: “We can give a well-deserved raise to our lowest-wage workers, and we can do it in a way that protects jobs and small business.” Yet a month after the initial phase of the increase took effect, Borderlands Books became the first business Sunday to cite The City’s higher minimum wage as the catalyst for its closure.The Valencia Street bookstore expects to clear its shelves and lay off employees by the end of...

Borderlands Books, based in San Francisco, put a notice up on its website the other day that caught the attention of economist and IBD Brain Trust member Mark Perry. "Borderlands is Closing," the notice said.[snip] But as Perry points out, the reason Borderlands is closing isn't just because of Amazon.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Independent bookstores have faced tough times for quite a while. In San Francisco, neighborhood businesses have been passionately protected, so it's hard to believe that an initiative passed by voters to raise the minimum wage is driving a Mission District bookstore out of business. San Francisco's minimum wage is currently $11.05 an hour. By July of 2018, the minimum wage in San Francisco will be $15 an hour. That increase is forcing Borderlands Bookstore to write its last chapter now. When actor Scott Cox took a job at Borderlands Books he didn't do it for the...

President Obama’s penultimate SOTU was notable for its audacity in demanding an even more expansive role for the federal government. Although trust in government has plummeted during his relentlessly statist administration, the president wants Americans to rally behind his belief that more federal mandates and spending will “turn the page” and make the country great. I would like to single out one especially wrong-headed idea – that Congress should amend the Fair Labor Standards Act, requiring employers to pay many workers more. Obama supports increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. In his speech, he argued for it...

Governor Andrew Cuomo, seriously hoping that Hillary loses in â€™16, so he can run in â€™20, has another brilliant new proposal. He told Sharpton that heâ€™s going to have the highest minimum wage in the country. Gov. Cuomo vowed Sunday to boost the cityÂ’s minimum wage to $11.50 an hour and nudge it to $10.50 an hour for workers in the rest of the state, in an anti-poverty plan that is the centerpiece of his economic agenda.But Business Council CEO Heather Briccetti said raising the wage again would Â“create a drag on job creationÂ” for entry level positions.Â“The end result...

When academics offer recommendations on how to strengthen families, they usually involve making left-wing policies stronger. At the Center for American Progress (CAP) on Monday, January 12, 2015, George Washington University law professor Naomi Cahn endorsed the think tank’s recommendations for “strengthened American families” which included a higher minimum wage and a higher earned income tax credit (EITC). “Most studies have found that the entire net effect of an increase in minimum wage results in a slight decrease in employment,” the University of Vermont found. “A 10 percent increase would most likely lead to only a 1 percent reduction in...

A minimum wage law is not a measure that says in effect, “Please be generous and try to pay your employees X dollars an hour.” No, it is a law that says, “All the police powers of the state will come down on your business or nonprofit if you dare to hire a single person for X-minus-one-penny per hour.” Minimum-wage laws are not carrots that incentivize generous pay. They are clubs that punish the hiring of any persons who cannot provide their employers, during every working hour, with goods and services that are worth not only the minimum wage itself...

"The work that we do, it’s modern-day slavery," says one Florida worker who just got a 12-cent raise.On New Year’s Day, minimum wage increased in 20 states. More states will bump pay later this year. The first round of hikes will expand paychecks by as much as $1.25 an hour, fattening the wallets of about 3.1 million Americans, according to the Economic Policy Institute. (Peruse Wonkblog or work by our labor reporter Lydia DePillis for more details about how the pay bumps could impact your state.) Economically, the verdict is mixed on minimum wage: Supporters paint the raises as an...

Robots have replaced human workers in a restaurant in China. Lu Dike, Owner of a family restaurant in the northeast China provence of Zhejiang said he is opting to save on employee wages by foregoing traditional servers and using robots instead. Sound familiar? Besides the savings Lu has experienced, the robots have become an enormous tourist attraction. The automated bots take orders and speak to customers with their forty phrase Mandarin Chinese vocabulary. Each bot navigates the restaurant by sensing magnetic strips in the floor and using optical sensing systems that keeps them from running into walls or people.

Local governments in Kentucky took major steps by enacting legislation at the county and metro level which has divided state lawmakers for years. In Bowling Green Friday the Warren County Fiscal Court became the first county in the nation to enact a right to work law with a 6-1 vote, and on Thursday night Louisville Metro government became the first city in the south to increase the minimum wage. Both actions from local government officials will likely land the governments in court defending their actions, Attorney General Jack Conway The Warren County Fiscal Court took the first step towards “right...

union carve outs in many minimum wage hikes. Unions may be pushing for resident Obama’s massive minimum wage hike, but many seek special carveouts from existing wage laws, according to a new study. The Chamber of Commerce analyzed dozens of minimum wage laws in cities across the country and found that many of the statutes exempt unionized employees from the requirement. Unions exploit these exemptions in order to make union labor more competitive with non-union shops. “Some local ordinances in particular include an exemption for employers that enter into a collective bargaining agreement with a union,” the report says. “This...

She’s a mom on a mission. A single mother-of-two from the Los Angeles neighborhood of South Central recently went on strike against her employer McDonald’s. Maribel makes $9.35 per hour working as a server but that’s not enough to support her family (she shares a home with 10 other people including her children, grandmother, and niece). “I need fifteen to buy my babies diapers, their wipies, their clothes,” she explains. “Its hard with nine dollars per hour — you can’t do that. It’s really hard to pay rent.” On December 4, Maribel, along with a large group seeking $15 per...

San Jose's new minimum wage took effect on March 13, 2013, although employers had the previous three months to prepare for the increase. That year, the unemployment rate for young adults in the San Jose metro area jumped sharply by six percentage points -- from 14 percent in 2012 to 20 percent in 2013... Meanwhile, the overall unemployment rate in the same area fell by nearly two percentage points, suggesting that young adults suffered while others did quite well. ... an EPI survey of 163 restaurants in San Jose, 45 percent of which cut employee hours and 42 percent of...

It turns out that people aren't eating as many McHamburgers as they used to, which is a big problem if your business is all about slinging meat. So McDonald's is hoping the novelty of its "Create Your Taste" ordering kiosks will lure some customers back in. The machines will be installed in 2,000 of its US outlets by the end of 2015.

Fiscal Policy: A city teetering on the brink of insolvency passes a minimum wage that would reach $13 by 2019, higher than the minimum elsewhere in a state that just elected a Republican governor. What could go wrong? Ignoring the first rule of holes (when you're in one, stop digging), the Chicago City Council, in a Tuesday emergency session called by Mayor and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, voted 44-5 to raise the city's minimum wage from the current statewide level of $8.25 an hour to $10 on July 1, with future increases bringing it to $13...

The biggest Black Friday protest ever hit Walmart today, and so far dozens of people who are calling on Walmart to pay their employees a living wage have been arrested. Santa Claus was also cuffed and taken away in California. Protests were scheduled today at 1,600 Walmart stores in 49 states, by workers and their supporters who are demanding that the nation’s largest private employer pays their workers a living wage. According to OUR Walmart, 11 workers and supporters were arrested at the store located outside of Chicago, and 35 Walmart protesters were arrested in Sacramento, CA, including the world’s...

WASHINGTON -- Dirk Rasmussen had Friday off and could have slept in if he wanted to. Instead, the Maryland resident and Teamster rose early and drove to downtown Washington, eager to join a post-Thanksgiving protest against Walmart. "Our local [union] president encouraged us to take part," said Rasmussen, 58, who works in a lumber and building-supply warehouse. "I raised eight children on a Teamsters benefit package and Teamsters wage. I'm a firm believer in collective bargaining, and I'm very concerned about the security of this next generation." Black Friday may be most famous for doorbuster shopping deals, but among progressives...

Last spring, you may remember, the French economist Thomas Piketty was all the rage in certain enlightened circles. His book "Capital" shot up to the No. 1 spot on bestseller lists, and many economists praised his statistics showing increased income and wealth inequality. Piketty argued that, absent a world war, returns to capital will exceed economic growth, inevitably producing growing inequality in the 21st century. There are problems with Piketty's -- or anyone else's -- statistics. Reliance on U.S. income tax returns overlooks the fact that tax cuts encourage people to realize income and misses non-taxable income such as welfare...

Seattle, Washington, one of the strongest remaining bastions of liberal philosophy left in the country, passed a phased-in $15 minimum wage law earlier this year. The highest minimum wage in the country. The vote was unanimous and the throng outside cheered, but for many this is a loss from which they will never recover. It is a blow to the profitability of business that they just can't take.

A group of Walmart employees pushing for higher wages said on Friday they were planning protests at 1,600 Walmart stores nationwide on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States. The labor group, Our Walmart, said it had protested 1,200 to 1,400 Walmart stores last year on Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. Asked about the workers' complaints, Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said the company does not retaliate against workers who strike or protest. "The reality is that few Walmart associates participate in these labor-organized protests," she said.

In a surprise move CEO Donald Thompson of McDonald’s Restaurants announced they had reached an agreement with the SEIU and would start paying its workers a “Living Wage” of $15.00 per hour the first of October. Mr. Thompson issued a press release stating, “As a company we realize we have been negligent in paying our employees a real living wage for the last 60 years, so in the spirit of social well-being, we have decided to comply with the wishes of the White House and the SEIU.” The Service Employees International Union spokesman, Seymour Pecunia, said that he “was very...

Often it seems as though there is no end to the left’s hypocrisy. And, the farther the left, the more apparent the hypocrisy. Such is the case with the Freedom Socialist Party, a national party. The Freedom Socialist Party has strong ties to Seattle. According to the party’s website, it actively campaigned for Kshama Sawant in her race for Seattle City Council. It “helped secure union endorsements and donations, and near support from the King County Labor Council…” The Freedom Socialist Party does differ from Sawant in one respect. You see, for this particular socialist party, a $15 minimum wage...

A Silicon Valley tech company that reportedly made $200 million last quarter was importing foreign workers from India and paying them $1.21 an hour. According to the Labor Department, "about eight employees of Fremont-based Electronics For Imaging [EFI] were flown in from India and worked 120-hour weeks to help with the installation of computers at the company's headquarters." NBC Bay Area noted that "the employees were paid their regular hourly wage in Indian rupees, which translated to $1.21." EFI claimed it "unintentionally overlooked laws that require even foreign employees to be paid based on local US standards." The company reportedly...

So as to give some perspective, I'm going to ask readers for their guesses about human behavior before explaining my embarrassment by some of my fellow economists. Suppose the prices of ladies jewelry rose by 100 percent. What would you predict would happen to sales? What about a 25 or 50 percent price increase? I'm going to guess that the average person would predict that sales would fall. Would you make the same prediction about auto sales if cars' prices rose by 100 percent or 25 or 50 percent? Suppose that you're the CEO of General Motors and your sales...

Apparently asking $15 an hour for fast food workers isn’t enough so unappreciated socialists in Seattle are demanding the minimum wage be raised to a “paltry” $20 an hour. There are skilled and educated professionals who don’t command such a wage, not to mention soldiers facing death daily on the front lines of tyranny, but these hypocrites who religiously shell out $5 for a cup of Joe are demanding social justice because they feel slighted by more accomplished Americans? If radical leftists ever succeed in enacting such a law, and I believe it’s only a matter of time before they...

Wal-Mart Stores plans to say goodbye to the minimum wage. The huge retailer’s chief executive, Doug McMillon, said Wednesday that the company plans to end minimum-wage pay for its workers in the future. “It is our intention over time that we will be in a situation where we don’t pay minimum wage at all,” he said. That plan would put Wal-Mart in a league with Costco Wholesale and Gap Inc. among employers committing to pay workers more than the minimum wage. President Barack Obama has publicly saluted Costco, Gap and several small businesses for voluntarily raising starting pay. The federal...

From the last Morning Jolt of the week: What Is With Our President? Contemplating President Obama’s confident – and erroneous – assurance that Ebola was unlikely to reach America, and that if it did, America’s hospitals and doctors were prepared to diagnose and respond immediately — a veteran speechwriter for cabinet officials wrote in: In the times that I was involved in speeches for various folks in the previous administration they and those around him were highly attuned to hyperbole and statements such the one Obama made about Ebola. Now people can crack wise about Iraqi intelligence and the like,...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Several business-related associations stand against a Metro Council proposal to raise the minimum wage. In a joint statement, they say it "exceeds Council authority" and is "bad policy." The statement - sent to media outlets today - was signed by nearly 20 groups including the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the Kentucky Restaurant Association, and Greater Louisville, Inc. In it, they say an increase would put local businesses at a competitive disadvantage and lead to job losses. The proposal would raise the wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour over a three-year period. Last week, Louisville Mayor...

At Panera Bread (PNRA), you're getting the option of dealing with a kiosk at the store instead of a cashier. Visit the local Chili's and you'll see tablets at the booth to help with orders. If you find the Domino's (DPZ) app too reliant on buttons, don't worry -- you can start interacting with a computerized voice.

There was something pathetically nostalgic at the specter earlier this month of fast-food workers demanding compensation to the tune of $15 an hour for performing jobs that require almost no skills beyond not being in a coma. It recalled a halcyon age very long ago when management depended on menial labor, when a general strike of unskilled workers could bring bosses to their knees. But now a company called Momentum Machines is touting a device that can allegedly shoot out 360 custom-ordered and fully wrapped burgers per hour, rendering the very idea of an exploited and undercompensated “fast-food worker” a...

President Barack Obama's push to raise the minimum wage, which has largely found success in liberal-leaning coastal states to date, could make headway in the conservative heartland in the November elections. Voters in the Republican-controlled states of Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota will consider ballot initiatives in November that would raise the minimum wage above the national rate of $7.25 per hour. Activists on both sides of the issue say the proposals stand a good chance of passing.

The White House is using the six-year anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy filing to look back at how the Obama administration fought the financial crisis – and look ahead to what it calls unfinished business like raising the minimum wage. In a blog post on Monday morning, National Economic Council Director Jeffrey Zients goes back through the creation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the administration’s bailout of U.S. automakers and the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act. Zients says the U.S. has made “significant progress toward a safer and sounder financial system” since the crisis.

At 1:40, demonstrates using an iPhone to bypass a fast-food cashier entirely: open app, recognizes you're at a restaurant, shows the menu, you pick what you want, tap "Pay", authorize with fingerprint on phone, go to food pickup window.

Conveyor Belt Sushi, Japan A dining concept that lets you pick from a wide range of one of Japan's best-known foods. NOTE: Click on the referenced link to watch the video. P.S. This technology will doom the SEIU/$15.00 minimum wage movement.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) organized a fast food protest, demanding that their prospective members all price themselves out of a job. So, understandably unable to resist a straight line while filling in as a talk show guest host, pundit Erick Erickson said that if you’re still earning minimum wage at 30, you’ve probably failed at life. It’s easy to blast Mr. Erickson for the tone-deafness of his comment. While certainly true of some, his quip is hardly true of most minimum wage employees. But is that fair? Is it reasonable, or helpful to the national economic and social...

"... we have lefty activists in full cry all across the nation demanding an increase in the minimum wage as the cure for inequality and a sluggish economy. And people believe them! Liberal journalist Norah O'Donnell asks Republican candidate Thom Tillis in North Carolina if a minimum wage of $7.65 an hour is “enough."Got any settled science on that, Norah?And what about the children?After two hundred years of a capitalism that has lifted the average person from an income of $3 per day to $100 per day,you would think that the educated, evolved people would have decided that the science...

Minimum Wage: Fast-food workers engage in a nationwide "Fight for 15" while ignoring the economic reality of higher prices, fewer jobs and the sawing off of that first rung on the economic ladder of success. In a scene repeated in various cities across the country last Thursday, roughly 50 people were arrested as they protested in front of two Chicago-area fast-food restaurants as part of the push for a $15-per-hour minimum wage for fast-food workers, what they call a "living wage." These protests, organized by the infamous purple shirts of the Service Employees International Union, simply ignore economic reality. It...